Master of Magic Classic Review

Designed by Steve Barcia, developed by SimTex and published by MicroProse in 1994 for MS DOS PCs, classic Master of Magic (MoM) is a turn-based strategy game notable for its employment of complex, variable and innovative Wizard-War mechanics.

Whereas SimTex's seminal Master of Orion 1 was space-themed and elegant in its simplicity, MoM is fantasy-themed, medieval as it pertains to technology and feature-rich.

In MoM, gameplay imbalance stems from the sheer number of spells, abilities and troop-types available; and the inability of the AI to make a comeback from the Own Zone they are often forced into impacts replayability unless we are prepared to play Master of Magic Impossible or self-impose restrictions on play by attempting Master of Magic Iron Man.

As with most MS DOS games, MoM is presented at 4:3 aspect ratio (320 x 240px), and in 8 bit color depth. While primitive in fidelity, the backgrounds and sprite design are serviceable, and there is some beautiful artistry in the 2D-animated cutscenes (which are skippable).

Both strategic and tactical modes of play employ tile-based visuals, turn-based systems and an icon-based UI complete with pop-up info panels and embedded stat panels which are surprisingly informative for a game of such vintage (right-click something and we are usually given more info).

The strategic mode of play presents a randomly-created overworld (switchable between two planes) from a top-down perspective whereas the tactical mode is projected in fixed isometric.

Master of Magic Strategy Mode Basics

Master of Magic's strategy mode was influenced by Sid Meier's Civilization 1 (1991).

In strategy mode, icons representing combat or utility units (e.g, settlers and road-building engineers) are moved about in eight directions on a top-down, tile-based field of play in point-and-click fashion. As they do so, fog of war is removed to reveal the terrain, its landmarks and enemy forces and installations (exploration).

Impressively, there are 10 terrain types (e.g., forest, mountain, ocean) each of which is assigned movement and several resource variables. Each terrain-tile can be surveyed before building a settlement; rivers seem to offer the most generous modifiers. For example, a booming capital city could result from:

2 Food
+20% Gold
Production: +70%
Gold bonus +12
Max Population: 24

A Dwarven capital:

Master of Magic Tactical Mode Basics

When icons representing opposing forces occupy the same tile on the overworld, the viewport switches to tactical mode and battle begins.

Unlike those in X-COM: UFO Defense (1994), MoM's tactical mode battlefields are small, dead-flat and do not scroll. There is little employment of verticality none of destructibility outside of destroyable fortress walls, and there is no exploration or dungeon-crawling whatsoever. But while nothing more than a static stage for battle, the tactical mode is engaging and a lot of fun.

Staged on an invisible grid, basic tactics in MoM consist in movement, positioning and attacking in melee or from range with individual heroes or troop formations. Spell-casting is D&D-inspired: it adds complexity to tactics through buffing, debuffing, disablement, direct damage, summoning, healing etc. Each hero or troop unit can be fully controlled but can also be placed on auto-pilot for easy encounters and mop-up jobs.

There is nothing wrong with the controls in either mode of play; they are responsive and the game is fast-paced. More tactility and combat feedback in tactical mode would have been welcome, though.

Left: Strategy mode (top-down overworld), Right: Tactical mode (isometric):

Master of Magic Wizards

Master of Magic's majesty rests upon its superior Wizard-based gameplay mechanics. If you want to play a Wizard, there is no greater game than MoM. In MoM, the player assumes the role of a Wizard whose objective is to conquer the world by defeating up to four rival Wizards drawn randomly from a pool of 14. Each rival has their own static and random traits that govern their playstyle.

Neither player nor rival Wizards are visually represented in play; there is no sprite to control in point-&-click style. Instead, Wizards reside in and are represented by fortress-towers located within towns. From there, they research spells, cast spells, parley and trade spells with rivals in dialogue, order the construction of buildings, command their army and inact the expansion and consolidation of their realm.

If the forces guarding a town in which the Wizard's tower resides are defeated, and the Wizard has no other town to recall to, he or she is utterly vanquished.

Imagine if Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel and Sauron each dwelt in towers (e.g, Orthanc, Barad-dûr), and each wanted to conquer Middle-earth with the help of their chosen citadel, race and heroes -- that is the kind of stage MoM sets -- an out-and-out Epic Stage.

Wizard powers and spellcasting often dictate outcomes in both tactical and strategic modes of play. Wizards can cast unit-specific, city-specific and global, world-impacting spells whose effects persist as long as mana reserves are maintained and they are unhindered by rivals (that is, as long as their spell is not countered, dispelled, blasted, appropriated or reversed).

Wizards can impact city catchments and thus city economies through the likes of corruption, consecration and volcanism; they can scry the world for rivals and divine their intent (the spell in question adding more info to UI modes); they can call forth great winds to push their warships rapidly across the high seas (also slowing rival vessels). Indeed, there is even an "I WIN" spell called the Spell of Mastery: if the Wizard manages to research and cast the spell, they instantly win regardless of game state. However, there is a counter to the spell: Spell Blast. If a rival has Spell Blast, they can repeatedly block the Spell of Mastery.

A masterpiece of UI design on an absolute level (not just relative to its era), the magic menu allows us to distribute our resources, transmute gold to power and assess and speak with rival Wizards.

If Wizards desire flight-capability for their subjects, that is possible as well. And they should desire flight because it buffs movement speed and enables mundane units to bypass terrain that otherwise slow their armies down or block them off (rivers, oceans, mountain ranges).

By means of a spell, Wizards can send select units to another plane in order to locate rare resources such as mithril and adamantium (which empower combat units) as well as hunt for fabled artifacts for their heroes to wield and wear, which are found in lairs guarded by the likes of sky drakes, great drakes, great wyrms and demon lords. Indeed, in such lairs the Wizard's heroic subjects can uncover long-lost lore which grants their master permanent special abilities or spell books that increase their arcane repertoire (more spells).

Example 1: The Wizard buffs and wards a heroic party of six who subsequently defeat several sky drakes in a legendary battle for the ages. The random reward turns out to be the Warlord retort, which instantly levels up not just each hero but the Wizard's entire army that stretches across two planes. (Coupled with the Crusade spell, units of an army can reach Champion-tier.)
Example 2: An 11 Life Book Wizard (the max in chargen) raids old ruins and comes out with 2x Chaos spell books. Now, she can cast Eldritch Weapon and Flame Blade on her combat units, and research several other Chaos spells over time as well. In addition to her full Life complement.

6x Sky Drake on Impossible Difficulty:

8x Great Drake on Impossible difficulty:

***

All of the above constitutes peak, apex-level cRPG Design. It is the randomness -- the RNG -- that makes MoM interesting, replayable and addictive. Some campaigns are easy and some are hard. It is our starting position, the lay of the land, the resources available, the position of our rivals, and the random traits of our rivals that determine difficulty.

If we find ourselves boxed in between two aggressive rivals who rolled well in terms of race, spell books and special abilities, the campaign starts off as an uphill battle. But if we're isolated in Myrror or on an island for the first several years, our campaign is comfy and we can dig ourselves in and explore at our own pace. Both extremes are fun, as are the in-betweens.

Master of Magic Heroes

As mentioned earlier, Master of Magic is not a balanced game. Some spells, special abilities, races and heroes are clearly better than others.

What makes the heroes interesting is that, in addition to the randomness of their acquisition, their traits are somewhat randomized as well. They will always have these or those traits which are logical for them to have, but they may also come with bonus traits that put them over the top.

For example, Torin the Chosen is a powerful package due to his martial prowess coupled with magic immunity. But if he rolls Blademaster and Agility, he's God-like. For some lesser heroes, the randomization of traits can be the difference between them being awesome and not being useful when their upkeep is factored in.

Hero traits are set upon game-creation; we cannot save-scum in order to attain ultra-optimized Hero.

The power and versatility of heroes is also dependent on random cRPG itemization. In general, whatever items buff movement speed, facilitate terrain mobility (flight or water-walking) and confer armor class bonuses, magic immunity or regeneration -- those are the best. Naturally, acquisition of the best items requires us to defeat the hardest cRPG combat encounter design (or research crafting spells).

See: Best Caster Items Master of Magic for examples of legendary items.

It is a pity that some heroes are OP (e.g., Torin, Shuri, Warrax, Malleus, Fang). When we get them onboard, it takes away from our army which then usually remains garrisoned (holding the fort while the heroes do the conquering).

It would have been great if there was an option to disable Heroes.

Suitably equipped, there are heroes than can storm rival Wizard citadels and come away unscathed. I would venture to state that cRPG veterans, who are naturally going to favor heroes, will find MoM too easy if they focus on their growth and gear. cRPG veterans should definitely play Master of Magic Impossible, never Normal or Hard difficulties.

Master of Magic: Torin the Chosen

For example, 11 Life Book builds can choose the Incarnation spell that summons Torin the Chosen as early as May, 1402. By quickly farming encounter zones and taking out neutrals and rival settlements, it is possible for Torin to reach Grand Lord by May 1413, Super Hero by Nov. 1415 and Demi-God by May 1423. Coupled with great gear farmed from encounters, Torin can wipe out rivals on both Arcanus and Myrror planes. I believe this to be an infallible path to victory.

Indeed, there are only a few non-epic monsters that can give Torin problems, such as phantom warriors and phantom beasts of Sorcery nodes. But once we have access to the True Sight spell or Torin gets enough levels under his belt, there is nothing that can stop him.

Master of Magic Character Creation

Character creation in MoM is two-step and simple at first glance, but the ramifications of selections are far-reaching. In short, we have 11 picks which we can divide between special abilities and five spell books or schools of magic: Life, Death, Chaos, Nature and Sorcery. The sixth school of magic is unshown in chargen but is innately known by all Wizards regardless of picks ("arcane magic").

Choosing to specialize in a school of magic (spend all picks in its ranks) leaves no room for special ability selections (retorts) but allows us to begin with a couple of high-level spells (an easy way to play). On the other hand, spending all points on special abilities means we only have arcane magic until we find spell books in the gameworld (a very limiting way to play, especially if we end up researching the Spell of Mastery before we find the spell books, which is quite likely).

We can also balance our picks between books and special abilities, but 11 book builds are easily the best choice (especially if we choose 11 in Life magic).

In addition, it is possible to specialize in a school (11 books) and still find a couple more books in the gameworld. We can, for example, specialize in Life but still find Chaos, Nature and Sorcery spell books (but not Death, as it opposes Life). In one of my playthroughs, I had access to 31 spells in tactical combat and 46 in strategy mode. In another, I yielded no fewer than 118 spells total (13 spell books and 6 retorts). Needless to say, I had access to a broad and deep toolset. However, that required extensive exploration of both Arcanus and Myrror -- as well as tons of spell research and trading.

Race selection (civ) is also impacting to a given campaign. As in Master of Orion, some races are rush-based, fast-breeding cannon fodder and others develop slowly but become formidable late-game in terms of building options and combat units (see: Paladins Master of Magic). However, players are not locked into a race because race selection only dictates the base race for the first city along with subsequent outposts built by that city (which, however, can make a profound impact). But it is possible to take out neutral or rival settlements as well as build other settlements from their base in order to govern several races in one game, though racial tensions may come into play.

Undead War Trolls Master of Magic:

Halfling Slingers in Beast Mode (Warlord + Crusade + Adamantium Ore + Lionheart):

High Elf Longbowmen in stealth and flight mode (can also be Hasted in-battle):

Dwarf Hammerhands in god-king mode:

I haven't covered construction because it's well known, self-explanatory and as per Master of Orion. Here is an example of building construction: Since we have built our Granary, we can now build a Marketplace. Construction of buildings unlocks other buildings, increases population growth, unlocks better combat units and facilitates wealth and mana acquisition. The order in which buildings are constructed plays an important role in power progression.

Basic concepts and combat units that High Men start with:

Buildings that High Men start with:

What High Men can build or train on turn 1:

That's a lot of options, but the first thing we want to do is build up food stocks and population. Thus, suggested order of construction is:

Granary (+2 Food, +20 People per turn)
Marketplace (Tax Revenue +50%)
Farmer's Market (+30 Food, +30 People per turn)
Sawmill (+25% Production of Forest terrain)
Forester's Guild (+2 Food, Production +25% Forest terrain)

From my experience, the above bonuses result in booming capital cities. Here we can see a prosperous and complete capital city of High Men:

And here is our High Men Empire:

Master of Magic Conclusion

In conclusion, I enjoyed my replays of Master of Magic over the past few months. Due to its Wizard-war mechanics, Hero component and tactical turn-based combat, it scratches the same itch as many pure cRPGs. It's the complexity and imbalance that is appealing: not only is it a lot of fun to metagame and powergame, but it's fun to play under self-imposed restrictions, too.

Back to: Turn-based Strategy Games PC.

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